Show me a Western New Yorker who says he doesn’t like Dominik Hasek and I’ll show you a liar. Say what you want about him after he abandoned the Sabres for stints with the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and then Red Wings again. When he was wearing a Sabres uniform, you were watching and you were cheering. How could you not?

Hasek, who announced his retirement on Monday less than a week after winning his second Stanley Cup in his 16th NHL season, revolutionized the goaltending position one flop at a time. He may have won his Stanley Cups with the Red Wings and even a gold medal with his Czech Republic mates in Nagano, but he truly became "The Dominator" while donning blue and gold.

To say Hasek’s style of netminding was “unorthodox” is like saying Rob Ray got into “a couple fights.” His man-on-fire, stop-drop-and-roll style of goalkeeping garnered all kinds of attention for his flair and flexibility. Not to mention the fact that he made a heck of a lot saves that he had no business making.

Ken Dryden, who knows a thing or two about playing between the pipes, had this to say of Hasek during a 1998 interview with ESPN.

“Dominik Hasek stops pucks; that’s his job,” the Hall of Fame goalie said. “You can do it standing up, butterfly, flopping – it doesn’t matter; you stop the puck. He understands that better than any other goalie. It’s taken a long time for coaches and managers to understand him.”

It didn’t take fans any time at all, though. To celebrate Hasek’s retirement party, I watched a library of old Sabres clips, and the memories came flooding back. It’s simple to see why he was a fan favorite in The Aud (and then HSBC Arena).

Forget about his uncanny ability to keep the puck out of the cage using every inch of his flailing body, especially with his signature move: rolling on his back from right post to left post, whipping his waffle board 180 degrees to the far iron, denying some winger what looked to be a sure goal. It’s more than a little humorous to watch those wingers raise their sticks in celebration, only to lower their arms and drop their heads in disbelief. All the while, screeching play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret proclaims, “We are not worthy!”

Aside from those incredulous saves, what he brought to games was the element of surprise. You never knew when he was going to charge out of his net to the blue line and slide – stick out, legs stretched – at an oncoming forward to knock the puck away and launch the opponent overhead. You never knew when he was going to flip the puck out of his glove and wield his goalie stick as a temporary baseball bat and swat the puck to the other end of the ice in the midst of oncoming traffic. You never knew when he was going to loosen his blocker and hurl it at a winger who he felt had just wronged him (I’m looking at you, Peter Bondra).

Hasek was more than just a snow belt sensation. His “slinky for a spine” earned him a starring role in MasterCard’s “Priceless” advertising campaign. He also reached hockey’s biggest stage when he carried the Sabres into the 1999 Stanley Cup finals – a series that will forever be remembered in New York for ending with a triple overtime “No Goal!”

What’s most surprising about "The Dominator" is that a decade before that title series, Hasek wasn’t even a blip on the NHL radar. A tenth round draft pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983, Hasek never even suited up in the NHL until the 1990-91 season. He spent all that time in Europe developing into one of the premier goalies on the continent. But upon joining the Hawks under coach Mike Keenan, he was relegated to the bench behind Ed Belfour and eventually was sent down to Indianapolis, Chicago’s IHL affiliate. It wasn’t until Game 4 of the 1992 Stanley Cup finals that Hasek was thrust into the spotlight – when he stymied the Pittsburgh Penguins with his unconventional style, even though he was unable to prevent the sweep.

That off-season he was traded to Buffalo for goaltender Stephane Beauregard and a future fourth round draft pick (Eric Daze, 1993). Beauregard only played 29 more games in the NHL after the transaction, and Daze had a promising start to his career before injuries forced him out of the game. Hasek posted a measly 389-223-82-9 record, a 2.20 goals-against-average and a .922 save percentage – numbers that no doubt will make him a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee.

Even though his only championships came in Detroit, he was never lacking hardware in Buffalo. All six of his Vezina Trophies came as a member of the Sabres, and he set an NHL record with six shutouts in one month (December 1997). He earned a pair of Lester B. Pearson Awards (MVP as voted by the players), and he also accomplished something no other goaltender in history did – win two Hart Trophies as the NHL MVP.

Said Hasek, in broken English during his 1997 MVP Award acceptance speech: “I can’t describe it in words. I want to thank for sure the Buffalo Sabres organization for giving me the chance to prove myself in the NHL. I will never forget it.”
Sabres fans, you shouldn’t forget, either.